pre-arrange funerals

Glueckert Funeral Home Manager Matthew Bennett works hard and takes the extra effort with families to make sure they know that all of their choices for funeral arrangements offer a host of opportunities for families to take advantage of when they lay their loved one to rest. Matt’s personal belief through his experience is that many in the funeral industry have not given families all of the options available to them.

For instance, at Glueckert, families may take advantage of an Urn Carrying device (one he created) to allow for 4 pallbearers to serve and accept the honor of escorting your loved one into a place of worship and/or to the cemetery. Cremation is a “disposition” that can be somewhat temporary by nature. Families often follow the wishes of their loved ones in where the remains ultimately rest; a crypt, a niche at a cemetery, buried or scattered. Matt offers some very helpful advice and a written instrument the Glueckert Family uses to make it easier for families and ensure the deceased member’s final wishes for disposition is carried out according to their wishes. He explains why it’s important to have these discussions and have them recorded officially. The comfort families feel knowing precisely what was desired not only avoids confusion, it offers a family a sense of certainty they have done everything they could do to honor their loved one.

One of the most difficult things for many people is to experience the holidays after the loss of a loved one. Our annual Holiday Luminary is a very special opportunity to come together as a community to experience celebrating the lives of loved ones together. We’re sharing a video from last year’s Service to give you an opportunity to witness what it’s like beforehand.

We’ve chosen the first Saturday of December for our Holiday Luminary Service to gather early in this Special Season and share loving remembrance of our families and friends. As you’ll see in our video, it’s an uplifting experience for everyone who attends. Remembering is a very important part of the process of losing someone close. Doing so in a community of people who have so much in common with your feelings takes away a little bit of the sense of dealing with this alone. This year’s theme is “Gratefulness”.

Our Holiday Luminary Service means a great deal to our Glueckert Family too. We celebrate the lives of people we’ve lost from within our immediate family and friends along with you, as well as the entire community we have served over generations who have truly become part of our greater family.

Please Join Us. We would love to see you and remember, love and be grateful for all those we’ve loved ❤️

Those are the words of a very experienced Funeral Director, Chris Mayer of Glueckert Funeral Home. By starting the dialogue, people and families have all of the options that are available to them. From there, families can decide what options they desire, and how they would like their arrangements to be carried out.

In the Financial Planning space, Pre-Planning is becoming an important component of the process for people from a financial perspective, but even more important, this is removing a burden from loved ones who have absolutely certain information on file as to what their loved one desired. The important issues and choices were made by the person who mattered most.

“Our goal is to serve the family in the manner they wish.” ~ John W. Glueckert Jr.

That’s not just the goal. It’s the very core of the Glueckert Family and Staff’s mission statement. When a family comes to us, they’re coming on the toughest day of their lives. And their honoring us with the most prized possession they have; their loved one. We want our families to take full advantage of our home and make it work best for them. We want our families to be comfortable so they can make their friends and extended family comfortable. We’ll take care of the details.

We know from the moment the phone rings or the family has entered our door that a choice has been made and we are honored to be the people who assist you during these most difficult times. We’re dedicated to ensuring that we are everything you need us to be before, during and after your time here when our home truly becomes your home.

Arlington Cares!

It was never so evident that Arlington does care, with the amazing parade and tribute to fallen veterans and those who wear our country’s uniform in the name of Protecting our Freedom everyday. All over the world. That’s a sacrifice we recognize every day, but honor particularly on Memorial Day.

The Centennial Parade and Service was smiled upon with absolutely gorgeous weather for the public events. While the skies opened up later in the day, the weather cooperated during the official events for thousands upon thousands of spectators who enthusiastically cheered, (roared even!) along the parade route.

With nearly 200 volunteers in our Honor Banner Entry, we were able to honor every veteran by representing them with a banner on a family member or volunteer. From the littlest children, to hearty seniors who marched with us, the sea of Red, White & Blue never looked so glorious as we passed through downtown on our way to Memorial Park. The energy from the crowd of neighbors and visitors was more than 10 deep along the route, as far as the eye can see.

Arlington Heights is our home. We’re always proud to be members of this community. But, on days like these, it’s even more special. When the public festivities were completed, an hour or so later the skies opened up and the rain came. Some old soldiers believe that “rain symbolizes the tears for those who’ve gone before us and offered up the ultimate sacrifice”. After 100 years of sacrifice from this community and every community in our blessed country, it’s easy to believe that every veteran was recognized with those tears.

Thank you to every neighbor, friend, group and the organizers for this wonderful event. We did the “Community of Good Neighbors” proud!

Contact Glueckert Funeral Home for any information or questions you may have.

John and Rosanna Glueckert understood early on what it meant to love and promote their community of Arlington Heights. The City’s motto of “City of Good Neighbors” was one businesses and residents alike were aware of and challenged to live up to. So, when John Jr., Marcie and Jackie were growing up, they got “early and often” lessons about community service from their parents. The Glueckert parents didn’t just ‘send’ them out to help, they ‘brought’ them out to help with every civic organization, service organization, churches, schools, you name it, the family was involved. Maybe the best part of the Legacy is how many friends they’ve made over the years and how much they’ve truly enjoyed all these events.

Glueckert Funeral Home sponsors events all year round, including the Memorial Day Flag Unit in the parade, Relay for Life, Bus Tour of Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery for Veterans, a Holiday Remembrance Service and many other charitable events and drives throughout the community. This past year, the Glueckert’s were proud to be involved in Opioid Awareness Week, and the campaign to KeepAlive2155, the number of persons projected to die from an accidental overdose in the current year. They held classes in administering life-saving Naloxone, in addition to helping provide and distribute the kits. That’s part of the responsibility of being a good neighbor too; healing. The family and staff are members in the service organizations in town; Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus, local PTAs and other organizations. They treasure all the relationships and friendships that have grown from being involved.

“What separates us from other funeral homes is our experience listening to families and learning what will personalize their services in the most effective way. We’re here to serve them and make this difficult process as special and meaningful as possible” is how Matthew Bennett, a Manager and very gifted Funeral Director states the mission at Glueckert Funeral Home. He adds that the resources and freedom to meet the family’s desires, along with the strengths of many professionals and colleagues at Glueckert make that mission easier to fulfill. For Matt, that means whatever might be necessary to help a family in their greatest time of need is almost always readily available and able to be provided in the short planning horizon families have to deal with so many important details.

“To be able to listen, understand and then plan and provide the full range of service a family desires sets us apart. That’s a big reward for me in serving these wonderful families.” Glueckert Funeral Home is committed to ensuring this is the case every time you have a need for our service.